Projecting the 2015-2016 NBA All-Rookie Team
By Brad Rowland
Forward – Stanley Johnson, Detroit Pistons
Stanley Johnson wasn’t the most productive player on the Arizona Wildcats last season, and that has led to some overlooking him as an NBA prospect. That would be a mistake.
Johnson is a physical monster at 6-foot-7 and 245 pounds, and at the age of 19, he may not have reached his peak in that regard. As a rookie, though, Johnson will already look like an NBA player on the defensive end, and he has the upside of being an elite rebounder as a small forward from the time he steps on the floor for the first time.
Offensively, it will be interesting to see a) what he can do at this level, and b) what Stan Van Gundy will allow him to do. Johnson flashed a nice off-the-dribble game in college, but he may be deployed more as a spot-up shooter around Andre Drummond than anything else, and that isn’t a strength right now. There is some level of concern about Johnson’s playing time, especially if Detroit is going to push hard for the playoffs, but with only Marcus Morris standing in front of him in terms of small forwards on the Pistons roster, that worry is overstated.
Stanley Johnson is, quite easily, the prospect on the first team who is receiving the least amount of hype, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be a stud in the NBA, and that will jump off the page immediately.
Next: Karl-Anthony Towns